Recipe: Carrot Cake with Fresh Orange Cream Cheese Frosting (using cake mix)

Carrot Cake with Fresh Orange Cream Cheese Frosting
Source: The Cake Mix Doctor by Anne Byrn

This is one pretty cake. That's what you'll say to yourself as you smooth the delectable frosting on so effortlessly. This is one scrumptious cake. That's what you'll say to yourself as you take a bite, then another.

Solid vegetable shortening for greasing the pans
Flour for dusting the pans
1 package (18.25 ounces) plain yellow cake mix
1 package (3.4 ounces) vanilla instant pudding mix
2/3 cup fresh orange juice
1/2 cup vegetable oil, such as canola, corn, safflower, soybean, or sunflower
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 cups grated carrots (5 medium carrots)
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
Fresh Orange Cream Cheese Frosting (see below)

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously grease two 9-inch round cake pans with solid vegetable shortening. Dust with flour, then shake out the excess flour. Set the pans aside.

Place the cake mix, pudding mix, orange juice, oil, eggs, and cinnamon in a large bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes more, scraping the sides down again if needed. The batter should look thick and well blended. Gently fold in the carrots, raisins, and nuts with a rubber spatula. Divide the batter between the prepared pans, smoothing it out with the rubber spatula. Place the pans in the oven side by side.

Bake the cakes until they are golden brown and spring back when lightly pressed with your finger, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove the pans from the oven and place them on wire racks to cool for 10 minutes. Run a dinner knife around the edges of each layer and invert each onto a rack, then invert each again onto another rack so that the cakes are right side up. Allow them to cool completely, 30 minutes more.

Meanwhile, prepare the Fresh Orange Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe follows).

Place one cake layer, right side up, on a serving platter. Spread the top with frosting. Place the second layer, right side up, on top of the first layer and frost the top and sides of the cake with clean, smooth strokes.

Place this cake, uncovered, in the refrigerator until the frosting sets, 20 minutes. Cover the cake with waxed paper and store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Or freeze it, wrapped in aluminum foil, for up to 6 months. Thaw the cake in the refrigerator before serving.

Fresh Orange Cream Cheese Frosting
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, at room temperature
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
3 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1 tablespoon grated orange zest (from 1 medium orange)

Place the cream cheese and butter in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed until combined, 30 seconds. Stop the machine. Add the confectioners' sugar, a bit at a time, blending with the mixer on low speed until the sugar is well combined, 1 minute. Then add the orange juice and zest to the mixture. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat until the frosting lightens and is fluffy, 1 minute more.

Use at once to frost the Carrot Cake.